I was trying to compile a list of Quarterbacks who were backups for several years (4-5+ years) then eventually became pro bowlers. I'm talking guys who didnt play at all.

Aaron Rodgers is the obvious one, but who else?

I was just thinking if that 2012 2nd rounder should have been used differently considering when we signed Peyton we were immediately thrust into "win now" mode.

Its pretty ballsy to draft a backup in the 2nd round if you think about it. I understand Peyton's health was a question mark, but why hedge your bets like that? Either go for it or dont. Think how much we could use a Lavonte David or Casey Howard right now?

Maybe Elway wanted Peyton to have his Gary Kubiak, idk, but I cant help but wonder how we can possibly expect Brock to preform at a high level in 2017 having not played in any meaningful games in 5 years.

And dont fool yourself, Peyton will play out his contract and if he keeps going to Europe to get his blood flushed he may play til hes 45.

I'm confused, is the point of this game for you to ask us a question, us to answer it and then for you to shoot all of our answers down because it's not the EXACT same situation as Oz?

Time to get over a draft that was 2 years ago. Of course Elway hedged his bets. That's his job. That's what a good GM does: puts his team in a position to win with an eye on the future. QB, as we have all seen, is the most premium position in the league and there are no guarantees ever in the NFL or the draft, so John is going to keep taking them until we get the right guy to replace Manning when he retires or gets re-injured. Just because a message board guy has declared that Manning will play until he's 45 doesn't mean it's happening, and if Elway is doing his job right, we will have a guy to step into that position when it doesn't and keep us winning football games.

Drafting a QB to start immediately is the hallmark of desperation, employed by franchises at the bottom of the barrel who have no choice but to throw the new toy into the fire. That strategy is rife with failure and the flameouts of highly talented athletes at the position.

Having the luxury to draft a player with a perceived high ceiling in the second round and develop him has great long term value to the franchise, and is a far better way to operate than trying to get that blue-chip player in the first round.

The OP laments the fact that we could be benefitting from a position player who was selected with the pick that was used on Brock, and there is some validity in that thought process given the short window we have with Manning. However, were we to wait to address the position in the post-Manning era, we would likely have to give up picks to get our guy or suffer a couple of years of complete ineptitude to acquire a top 5 pick.

Being ahead of the curve is a far better way to operate than trying to catch up to it.

Drafting a QB to start immediately is the hallmark of desperation, employed by franchises at the bottom of the barrel who have no choice but to throw the new toy into the fire. That strategy is rife with failure and the flameouts of highly talented athletes at the position.

Having the luxury to draft a player with a perceived high ceiling in the second round and develop him has great long term value to the franchise, and is a far better way to operate than trying to get that blue-chip player in the first round.

The OP laments the fact that we could be benefitting from a position player who was selected with the pick that was used on Brock, and there is some validity in that thought process given the short window we have with Manning. However, were we to wait to address the position in the post-Manning era, we would likely have to give up picks to get our guy or suffer a couple of years of complete ineptitude to acquire a top 5 pick.

Being ahead of the curve is a far better way to operate than trying to catch up to it.

Two points on this:

Brock signed a 4 yr deal which means theres a chance he may never start a game for the Broncos. If a team offers him more money in 2 years and a chance to start whos to say he wouldnt leave. Which goes back to the point I made earlier. Why draft a backup in the 2nd round when a guy like Lavonte David is on the board? Although, Elway may very well have drafted Hillman there if not for Brock.

Like any job, Quarterbacks need to hone their craft, and this can really only be done by playing in actual regular season games. IMO! Brock was a 1 yr starter in college and could very well sit for 5 years in the Pros. My point is, this is not the route most pro bowl QBs take. Not to mention, he was showing "slot machine eyes" already last preseason.

Brock signed a 4 yr deal which means theres a chance he may never start a game for the Broncos. If a team offers him more money in 2 years and a chance to start whos to say he wouldnt leave. Which goes back to the point I made earlier. Why draft a backup in the 2nd round when a guy like Lavonte David is on the board? Although, Elway may very well have drafted Hillman there if not for Brock.

Like any job, Quarterbacks need to hone their craft, and this can really only be done by playing in actual regular season games. IMO! Brock was a 1 yr starter in college and could very well sit for 5 years in the Pros. My point is, this is not the route most pro bowl QBs take. Not to mention, he was showing "slot machine eyes" already last preseason.

The reason to draft Os was, at the time no one knew what to expect from Peyton. If Peyton came back and he couldn't regain form then Elway had a guy in Brock who could step in. He felt in the event Peyton didn't pan out he had a QB who had potential to be a franchise QB with Peyton playing the part of seasoned veteran and highly paid QB coach to the rookie for a season. Also I believe the general belief was that Peyton had a 3 year window since so many recent contracts were made to expire after next season. So that would mean sitting Os 3 years and have him start year 4. If Peyton can play longer we trade Os to a needy team that believes a Manning taught QB has value.

In retrospect David would have been a great choice instead, but at the time the Osweiler pick was necessary, especially since there was no interest in continuing the Tebow experiment any longer

Brett Favre sat his rookie year and was sitting his second when Majikowski went down. Eli was sitting until warner sucked it up, much like cutler. Schaub sat on the bench for a few years behind Vick. Mark Brunell & Matt Hasselbeck both sat behind Favre.

Brock signed a 4 yr deal which means theres a chance he may never start a game for the Broncos. If a team offers him more money in 2 years and a chance to start whos to say he wouldnt leave. Which goes back to the point I made earlier. Why draft a backup in the 2nd round when a guy like Lavonte David is on the board? Although, Elway may very well have drafted Hillman there if not for Brock.

Like any job, Quarterbacks need to hone their craft, and this can really only be done by playing in actual regular season games. IMO! Brock was a 1 yr starter in college and could very well sit for 5 years in the Pros. My point is, this is not the route most pro bowl QBs take. Not to mention, he was showing "slot machine eyes" already last preseason.

Your whole stance is based on your low opinion of Brock, and the rest is pure conjecture; that we would have found an impact player with that pick, that we won't be able to re-sign Brock, etc. None of the Elite QBs in the league, other than Peyton, were first year starters.

Thank you Marty Schottenheimer and Carl Peterson for choosing Grbac over Gannon. Easily one of the greatest Chief blunders in their stunning, decades long fail parade. A move that quite possibly served as the catalyst to the Broncos winning SB32.

Your whole stance is based on your low opinion of Brock, and the rest is pure conjecture; that we would have found an impact player with that pick, that we won't be able to re-sign Brock, etc. None of the Elite QBs in the league, other than Peyton, were first year starters.

This. And Manning has been pretty hurt at times, Brock could've easily had to get called upon.